Month

Archives: September 2007

The End of Bonapartism and the War on Terror

NYT columnist Tom Friedman's column, "9/11 is over," sounds the death knell for the Neoconservative use of 9/11 and is in particular an attack on Rudy Giuliani.Friedman's main arguments are that the…

Iraq Preachers Lambaste Senate

The USG Open Source Center translates or paraphrases sermons given in Iraq on Friday, both Sunni and Shiite.'Round-up of Iraqi Friday Sermons 28 SepIraq -- OSC SummarySaturday, September 29, 2007 Major Iraqi…

Saturday roundup

At the Global Affairs blog, Philip Cunningham, who teaches at Dosisha University in Japan considers the ways in which W.'s Iraq debacle has weakened the ability of the US to play a…

Iraqi Establishment Rejects US Senate Resolution Al-Maliki: A Disaster for Iraq and the Region

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Friday rejected the US Senate resolution calling for a soft partition of Iraq. Reuters reports:' "They should stand by Iraq to solidify its unity and its…

Senate Partitions Iraq

The US Senate voted for a soft partition of Iraq on Thursday. First they messed up Iraq by authorizing Terrible George to blow it up, now they want to further mess it…

Bush-Aznar Transcript: The War Crime of the Century

I made two claims about the transcript published by El Pais of Bush's conversations with Spanish leader Jose Maria Aznar on 22 February, 2003, at Crawford, Texas.The first is that the transcript…

Birk: Sectarian Numbers in Iraq

Sectarian NumbersGuest comment by Joshua BirkIn his September report to Congress, General Petraeus claimed “the number of ethno-sectarian deaths was down by over 55%.” His assessment stands in sharp contrast with the…

Transcript Reveals Impeachable Offenses by Bush Re: Iraq War

El Pais published a transcript of the conversation between George W. Bush, Jose Maria Aznar of Spain, and Condoleeza Rice held at Crawford before the Iraq War. Bush is typically bullheaded, impatient,…

Hundreds Dead and Wounded in Wave of Violence in Iraq Deadliest Bombing in Baghdad since July

McClatchy reports that a wave of bombings shook Iraq on Wednesday. In double bombing in the Baghdad market of Baya` left 32 dead and nearly that many wounded. From Sinjar in the…

Iranian Border Closure Roils Kurdistan; Is Weapons Baiting a War Crime?

Sunni Arab guerrillas blew up an internal pipeline bringing petroleum from Baiji to the refinery at Doura in Baghdad. It is the second such act of sabotage in the past week. A…

"There are no homosexuals in . . ." More Common a Sentiment than you Might think

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's bigotted statement that there are no homosexuals in Iran derived from his rightwing religious commitments. What he said is very serious. He erased gays right out of existence.…

Shaman Drum Book Party for Napoleon’s Egypt

Many thanks in advance to Karl Pohrt and his great independent bookstore Shaman Drum for this party. Shaman Drum Events CalendarAcademic Reception:Title: Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle EastAuthor: Juan ColeLocation: Shaman Drum…

Ahmadinejad lectures at Columbia University

Huge Bombing in Baquba Iranians close border with Iraqi Kurdistan

Iran has closed its border with Iraqi Kurdistan. This move appears to come in part in reaction to the US kidnapping of an Iranian commercial agent, on the grounds that he is…

Iraqi Sermons

The USG Open Source Center translates or paraphrases Iraqi Friday Prayer sermons from last week."Round-up of Iraqi Friday Sermons 21 SepIraq -- OSC SummarySunday, September 23, 2007 Major Iraqi television channels -…

Let Slip the Dogs of War and Demonize Ahmadinejad

My column at Salon.com is online: Turning Ahmadinejad into public enemy No. 1: Demonizing the Iranian president and making his visit to New York seem controversial are all part of the neoconservative…

Iraq Relents on Blackwater Bush to ask for Nearly $200 bn.

The Iraqi government is backing off its demand that the Blackwater security firm be expelled from Iraq in the wake of apparently unprovoked shootings that left 11 Iraqis dead, according to the…

Pentagon Report Gives Lie to Surge Success

Reprinted for Monday readers:An article on how the schedule for turning Iraqi provinces over to the Iraqi army and police for security purposes has slipped to August 2008 notes of a new…

Tzipi Livni Aboutface: Now Against Terrorism

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, now grandstanding at the UN, is the daughter of Eitan Livni, the chief operations officer of the Irgun terrorist organization. Among Irgun's most spectacular operations was the…

Escobar on Palestinian Refugees in Brazil

Pepe Escobar writes with regard to my posting about Brazil's granting of asylum to Palestinian refugees expelled from Palestine by the Israeli military in 1948, who had taken refuge in Iraq but…

Iraq: Videotape of Blackwater Attack Jaafari Maneuvers in Najaf

Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they have a videotape of the shootings in Nisur Square last Sunday by Blackwater security guards, which shows that they fired without provocation. The company has maintained…

Sistani Aides Killed UIC Unconcerned with Sadrists’ Departure

AP reports that two more aides to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani were assassinated on Friday, bringing the total since late August to 5. Some worshippers who follow Sistani in Basra cancelled Friday…

Allawi Rejects al-Maliki’s charge of Treason US Kidnaps another Iranian from the KRG

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki slammed his rival, Iyad Allawi of the National Concord Movement, for engaging in secret talks with the Izzat al-Duri branch of the Baath…

Republicans vote Down Webb Plan for Troops; Al-Maliki Accuses Blackwater

Iraqi guerrillas killed four US troops on Tuesday.Republican senators succeeded in blocking the Webb plan to give US troops off as much time between deployments as they spent in Iraq. The Bush…

Wagner Guest Op-ed: Democrats Should Fund Demobilization

Guest Op-Ed by David Wagner:"It seems to me that political polarization in Congress prevents action on common sense measures that are needed, regardless of how fast this war winds down. The consensus…

Rice Apologizes to al-Maliki for Blackwater Shootings Was Abu Rishah a Fake?

McClatchy reports from Baghdad that Iraqi eyewitnesses maintain that Blackwater security guards fired at civilians without provocation on Sunday, in contrast to the company's own story about the incident. Probably they were…

Jihadis Threaten to Kill Leaders of al-Anbar Council

The USG Open Source Center summarizes and partially translates a threat by the 'Islamic State of Iraq' [Salafi Jihadis] to kill more members of the al-Anbar Salvation Council, tribal sheikhs who are…

Marshall/ Cole interview on Iraq

I am interviewed on al-Anbar province at Veracifier by Josh Marshall of TalkingPointsMemo.

Sadrists Demand US Withdrawal UIA asks Sadrists to Rejoin Will Blackwater be Expelled?

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Shiite fundamentalist ruling bloc in the Iraqi parliament, the United Iraqi Alliance, has called on the Sadr Movement to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the…

Postponement of Kirkuk Referendum?

The USG Open Source Center reports on the possible postponement of the referendum on the future of oil-rich Kirkuk province, which the Kurds want to annex to Kurdistan.Iraq: Kurdish Leaders Raise Possibility…

Right-Zionists try to Silence Walt at the University of Montana

Richard Drake, chair of the History Department at the University of Montana, describes what it is like to invite Stephen Walt, a respected political scientist at Harvard University and author of a…

Greenspan: War about Oil; Bloody Sunday in Iraq

Alan Greenspan confirms that he urged the Bush administration to take out Saddam on grounds of petroleum security for the US, and says one official told him, 'unfortunately we can't talk about…

Sadrists withdraw from Government; Say they Will not Bring Down al-Maliki; Iraqi Military called Unprepared

The unstable al-Maliki government is on its last legs. The Sadr Movement (32 seats) has now formally withdrawn from the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite fundamentalist bloc that is the largest in…

Rep. Doggett: Congress must Respond to the Propaganda Surge

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) on Iraq:Plus:International Atomic Energy head Mohammad Elbaradei walked out of a meeting where he felt a Portuguese diplomat's speech was insufficiently supportive of his call for new inspections…

Cholera Spreads in North Iraq

The cholera epidemic in northern Iraq continues to grow, with 16,000 persons now estimated to have been infected.I grew up traveling and have seen cholera up close. You lose liquids from both…

Bush’s ‘Troop Withdrawal’ Branded Phony; Sattar Assassination a blow to Bush Optimism; 1 million Dead in Iraq?

Our national discourse has now reached a point where it is a journalistic coup just to point out when a politician is lying. Thus, the headlines that Bush's 'troop cuts,' announced in…

Shaikh Sattar Killed in Bombing; Anbar State of Emergency

Shaikh Sattar Abu Risha, leader of the Council for the Salvation of al-Anbar Province, has been killed by a bomb set at the entrance to his farm near Ramadi. Sawt al-Iraq says…

Rice’s Circular Colonial Logic All Pressure off Reform in Baghdad after Crocker/Petraeus Report

Colonial logic is always circular. Thus, Condi Rice: the US needs to stay in Iraq to protect the US from Iraq. Also, the US needs to stay in Iraq to protect Iraq…

Developments in Iran and Pakistan

At the Global Affairs group blog:Farideh Farhi discusses negotiations between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency over inspections of the latter's nuclear programs. She also tells us about the imminent release…

Subjects not Subjected

At the Napoleon's Egypt blog, several letters are available on the early days of the occupation, some of them by members of the team of scientists Bonaparte brought with him. Excerpt:' The…

Iraqi Reactions to the Petraeus/ Crocker Testimony

The USG Open Source Center translates transcripts of Iraqi reactions to the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Ryan Crocker.Iraqi TVs Carry Further Reporting, Commentary on Congressional Testimonies 11 SepIraq -- OSC…

Can Gen. Petraeus and Ryan Crocker Save the Next Democratic President?

Despite what the pundits will say, I fear the testimony of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker on the Hill Monday and Tuesday is not a turning point, does not give…

McClatchy: Civilian Deaths Steady through Surge; August Secret Official Toll Staggering 2,890; Mahdi Army Continuing Ethnic Cleansing

Everybody's got a status report on Iraq these days.The consistently best and most clear-eyed wire service on Iraq, whose Pentagon correspondents are pointedly not invited to fly with the Secretary of Defense,…